E99, I agree with you man is very good at adopting to varying situations but the fact is we would be back in the stone age, knowledge of previous
technology and advancement would be lost in time remembered only in folklore and legend.

I couldnt believe it at my lot one day when I put up a question in the forum about what we cant live without and every person that replied said they
couldnt live without there PDA's, or Cell phones. I dont believe that these young people now adays could live if they had to without all there
technology.

Besides, technology doesn't make ANYONE dumb. It doesn't have the power to adjust anyone's intelligence or wisdom or smartness levels one iota.

Technology does actually the opposite - you have to get a little smarter to be able to use a computer properly, and then you learn to use your brains
to search solutions and finding out how things work, etc.. how is that making anyone dumb?

On the contrary, it makes people more smart. Without technology, people would be even dumber (as hard it is to imagine) than they are now. They would
only know how to use a hammer and a nail, but if you presented them with a keyboard, they would probably just try to eat it or something.

It's TPTB that is making people dumb. Their influence reaches into every area of life from kindergarten, to schools, universities, corporations
(where people work for the system as wage slaves), to TV "programming" (another way for indoctrination and brainwashing), and so on.

TPTB USES technology to dumb people down, but it uses many methods simultaneously. It's not the technology's fault if people get dumb - it's
people's own fault, and TPTB's fault also - almost equally.

People don't want to know, they refuse to learn - and then they drink up everything TPTB shoves in their throats, and ask for more. What do you
expect from such a herd of blind sheep-mules?

Don't blame the knife for the murder - it's not the knife's fault. Don't blame technology for TPTB dumbing people down, it's not the computer's
fault!

Originally posted by Ambient Sound
There is a great quote by Robert A. Heinlein. There is a least one ATS member who has this as their sig.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

What a cruel madman! Change a diaper? Why? I am not going to be responsible for some idiot reproducing in a completely insane world, it's not for me
to change any diapers.

PLAN AN INVASION? How can anyone say this and think they are sane? NO ONE should be able to plan an invasion, for goodness' sakes! Don't plan
invasions - don't you realize that's the problem of this planet's tribes, that they are always planning to invade each other and start wars and
kill, maim, destroy? Oh gosh.. I can't believe why anyone would ADVOCATE something so insane! War is HELL!

BUTCHER A HOG?? Oh man, this guy's cruelty knows no bounds! Why don't we just leave the animals alone? What have they ever done to us? Murdering
innocent pigs, who are as intelligent and lively as dogs - it's like killing your (or other people's) pet dogs! Does this thought sound normal to
you? Then killing pigs shouldn't either! Human body doesn't support flesh eating anyway, but yet there you go, eating innocent, bloodily and
painfully murdered animals flesh like vampires or zombies. No wonder that people are so messed up... the most insane part is, that I know I am the
only one reacting to this in this very manner.. people treat the insanities of this world like they are normal, everyday things, and can't see
-anything- wrong with them. If everyone was forced to WATCH "hogs being butchered", without them having done anything bad to anyone, I am sure that
most would either vomit or turn away in disgust. But yet the same people would continue eating flesh.. it's completely insane.

Conn a ship? What for? Why would anyone absolutely need to know that? What's the point of 7 billion people knowing how to direct a ship, when most of
them are struggling to survive, and a lot of them are starving to death or dying in wars? There's never going to be 7 billion ships! So this is just
pretty stupid statement. Why sacrifice precious little time people have, just to learn this completely useless (for most) skill? We are land
creatures, not water creatures.

Design a building? So everyone should also be an architect? Maybe if there were like 232 000 people on the planet, and everyone could actually have
their own house - but it's impossible for 7 billion people to design a building - what's the point, because they are not going to be able to live in
it anyway? Why learn this skill just to design buildings for some rich bastards who will never feel any gratitude towards you?

Write a sonnet? I don't know anything more useless and ego-freaky than poetry. Even songs have lyrics nowadays - and that can be thought of as
poetry. I hate poetry, I have never been able to 'understand' it. It's either rhyming or non-rhyming avalance of bullshít that doesn't make any
sense, or contain any wisdom. And even if it did, it could be written in a less 'clever', and more clear and simple way. It doesn't need gimmicks
(think about Zen koans). A REALLY idiotic skill to have.

Balance accounts? Oh man.. really? I don't want to even know of the existence of accounts, let alone balance them! Think about the accountant skit(s)
in Monty Python.. do you really want to be that man? Because that's what it's going to take for you to really learn this skill - you have to
dedicate much of your life to all kinds and forms of money worshipping, before you can become good at this skill. No thanks, my soul is not for sale -
you can shove your 'accounts'..

Build a wall? Against who? I HATE walls. They prevent otherwise nice shortcuts, restrict the freedom of exploration and walking, and force people to
'go around' instead of going where they want. Besides, this stinks of masonry.. which stinks of FREEmasonry.. NO ONE should ever build a wall,
except maybe around a private yard or something. But even there, fences are usually a better choice. Do you really want to live in a prison-like
environment, walls everywhere? If 7 billion people learn this skill, you can bet that that's what would happen to us all.. walls everywhere! AARGH!
NO!

Set a bone? What the HECK does this mean? Bone.. as in skulls&crossBONEs? I don't think I want to know more.

Comfort the dying? You don't LEARN this - you either have it or you don't. True comfort is not a gimmick, it's honesty. You can't learn honesty.
Why would dying need comfort anyway? They are the happiest people I know - their misery is soon OVER! Do you comfort lottery winners, too?

TAKE ORDERS? Never! The day I take orders, is the day you can put me to sleep with a well-aimed neckshot. I have either been possessed by a demon or
evil spirit, or brainwashed or became insane. Man... "take orders", really? REALLY? This sounds more and more masonic... no human being should EVER
take orders! Requests, maybe, but only out of his free will - never do something just because someone says so! Never take orders (unless you are in
the restaurant business, I guess)!

What the hell is wrong with this guy, he seems like a raving lunatic, military-fanatic nihilist lunatic!

GIVE ORDERS? This may be even worse than taking orders. What a nutcase you must be if you think there's nothing wrong with giving orders! Whoa.. we
are all equal, we all have free will. Who are you to break this and stomp on people's rights by giving them orders? (of course, if we are technical,
you have right to -give- orders, but no one has the obligation to obey, unless they have specifically consented to obeying) I don't want to order
ANYONE around, in any situation, ever! I don't want to CONTROL other people, which this guy certainly seems to desire to do. What a loon!

COOPERATE? To what end? He doesn't specify. Not all cooperation is good. Isn't this sometimes the same as 'taking orders'? Like, if the police
commands something, and you "cooperate", you simply obey the false authority (unless he has gained authority over you before commanding you). Sure,
if you collaborate on a creative project, that can be fun and beneficial, even in larger meaning of the word. But 'cooperation' sounds like you are
taking part in some military mission, and you 'cooperate' to get the mutual mission completed.. but I admit, that in proper environment, with the
right people, with the right motives and goals, cooperation is advisable and even essential. But why wouldn't a specialist be able to cooperate when
need be, anyway? A vague term.. almost anything you do with other humans is 'cooperating' of some kind.

ACT ALONE? Well, why 'act', when you can express your true self? I know the multiple meanings of the word, but I wanted to emphasize how he chose
this particular word instead of other possibilities. Who doesn't already know how to "act alone" anyway? No one can take a shít for you. So every
time you go to the toilet alone, you 'act alone'. Is this an achievement? Should I be proud that I can produce feces without assistance?
Patronizing.

SOLVE EQUATIONS? Wow, how SPECIFIC, after all that vague and generic, roundabout emoting. Not everyone has a math-brain. Some people are good at math,
some people aren't. I don't think this one is an essential human quality that everyone should have. We have COMPUTERS which are so good at math,
that even the best humans (generally speaking - I am not talking about the autistic 'rainmen' or other miracle people, who seriously lack in other
areas) cannot compete by a long shot. It's not practical that everyone should be able to solve equations, and there are people (like me), who could
-never- learn that - not because they can't learn it, but because their brains are not calculators or computers - they might be more on the creative
side than the math side. Everyone has a strength - why should it be the SAME for everyone? This is impossible, it's not going to happen. And I'd
like to add, it's quite unnecessary too. It's like forcing someone with leg disability to enter a marathon. What's the point? Idiotic.

ANALYZE A NEW PROBLEM? Not all people are analytical. Most of the same statements apply here. Sure, it's good if people can learn to learn, if people
can learn to adapt to new situations, if people can figure out solutions to simple problems on their own, without having to call an expensive PC
Helpdesk or bother a friend or a family member because they don't know how to move the firefox window back to fullscreen. But "ANALYZE" sounds
again militaristic, or at least very 'professional' approach. It doesn't have to be thoroughly analyzed to be solved. With a different wording, I
would probably agree with this point to an extent anyway - nothing is more frustrating than a moron who doesn't even try on their own.

PITCH MANURE? Again with the animal exploitation. To have manure, you have to 'keep' animals, which means you imprison them, and take them to places
against their will, and then take them to other places against their will, and probably saddle and ride them without their consent, and who knows what
else - basically, you treat them like they are things, possessions. And this guy advocates it! And why would -everyone- need this skill? Not everyone
is fit for manual labor - they might have other skills, like composing music. This should be abandoned?

program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

PROGRAM A COMPUTER? Oh, come on. This has pretty much the same answer as the equation thing. Not everyone can be a programmer, it needs a special kind
of brain to be able to do it, it requires also personal attributes that not all people have (like extreme patience and 'analytical' mind instead of
'creative' mind). Sounds like this guy is really very tech-math-oriented, and thinks EVERYONE should be. What the hell is wrong with this nut?
Programming -absolutely- requires that you can think in a very, very counter-intuitive and abstract way - a bit like playing chess, thinking all the
moves beforehand. You can't really program a computer unless you have all these qualities and more. At best, your code will be messy, unreadable,
difficult to figure out, buggy, and relatively short and you will get dizzy just looking at it. No. Not all people should know how to write program -
other people have other skills, that's why demogroups (for example) usually consist of a couple of programmers, a few graphicians, a couple of
musicians, and a designer. Everyone has their OWN SKILL, not everyone has to be dumbed down to mere math-tech-programmers! Give me a break!

Please notice, that he doesn't even mention THINKING. Which I think everyone SHOULD be able to do (after all, we all do have brains). Military and
corporations, and other "authorities" (including your parents) do not teach you to think.

Or more precisely, like Bruce Lee put it: "They all teach you WHAT to think, but not HOW to think".

COOK A TASTY MEAL? Well, this can come in handy, but why would it have to be 'tasty'? Why can't it be enough for it to be 'adequate' or 'nourishing'?
Is taste more important than nourishment? What about BUYING the incredients? Isn't that important? Someone else takes care of that, so all you have to
know is cook? Why not dishwashing, while you are at it? We can't all be cooks, not everyone is INTERESTED in cooking - but according to this madman's
doctrine, everyone should just FORCE themselves to learn things that do not interest them, and ABANDON things that come naturally to them, and that
interest them? What kind of twisted sicko is this guy?

FIGHT EFFICIENTLY? Really. Who didn't see this coming? Why would you fight anyone? Is that really a skill? Did Jesus really teach us that we should
learn to fight more efficiently? Or did he teach something better? This proves that this guy is a mad, violent, insane military guy, who can't think
outside the box. He simply lists the crazy things HE can do, and thinks this is the measure of humanity! What a fool!

Don't fight! World doesn't get better by humanity fighting! In a war, there are no winners, because war is hell, everyone loses. This guy wants to
keep humanity fighting, instead of finding harmony and peace? What a militaristic nutjob.

DIE GALLANTLY? Do I even need to comment on this one? This is like proof that this is not a respectable spiritual master, but some violent ape that
you (and now I) have quoted. WHY would it matter how you die? We are all going to die anyway. What does 'dying gallantly' add to anyone's life,
happiness, joy, or humanity's future? How does it improve things? WHO CARES how you die?

All this guy can think (and do) is cold math-oriented things, and fight, kill, and think of death and bones and (probably war)ships.

There's something seriously wrong with all this crap ... I predict that I will never want to write any sonnet. But I do love creating music, pixel
art, drawings, animations (2D and 3D), sound effects, stories, instruments, etc.. but according to this guy, I should abandon ALL this, and instead
start writing some idiotic poems, and start solving equations (although I can't, and I would NEVER be even 'adequate' at it, no matter how much I
studied) and programming computers, killing hogs, fighting with others, and then 'die gallantly'.

You can have many opinions about specialization, but if "non-specialization" means all THAT sickness, I think I'd rather specialize. Damn.

(Hmm, perhaps that "pitch manure" referred to a typical sales-pitch .. but same arguments apply anyway - being in sales is an evil position to be in -
to try to coerce others into exchanging their hard 'earned' money for some useless gimmick that your MASTER (the corporation you work for) has decided
to manufacture)

If I made such a list - not being a military freak, it would be very different. I don't know what, yet, but I could try (notice that I didn't use
the phrase "I could give it a SHOT").

Ok, every human being should know how to..

- think for themselves (so they can know what's really going on)
- learn from their mistakes (everyone makes mistakes, but only fools don't learn from theirs)
- research things (this everyone can do - the truth IS out there)
- express themselves honestly (actually, they do, but they have forgotten, mostly)
- meditate (calms and harmonizes the whole being)
- express their own goodness towards others (increases the happiness of humanity as a whole)
- affect other people's goodness and bring it out (harder, but most can learn this, I am sure)
- distance themselves from 'pettiness' and look at the big picture (many can't do this, but trying would benefit them)

- take a break, and know -when- to take a break (from -anything- stressful or demanding)
- discuss in a civilized manner (without ad hominems or shaming language - seems impossible for women)
- be interested about a great many things, from human to the Universe (still free to choose their own path)
- take things as possibilities (a lot of people simply can't do this - it's either yes or no)
- be honest (lies hurt the soul and other's souls as well - I said it can't be learned, but I meant that it requires more than some technical
studying, it requires real soul searching and letting themselves be what they are, removing obstacles that are keeping the illusions in place, etc. -
so it's not just a quick learning process, but something much deeper - and in the context I said it in, it makes sense - you can't 'comfort' the
dying (not that they need comfort any more than a lotto winner does) with a "learned" gimmick - only by expressing yourself honestly)

- travel outside their comfort zone every now and then
- accept different viewpoints
- be thankful for what they have (and to put their life in perspective)
- turn the TV off
- use the internet to search for things - knowledge, wisdom, understanding, information
- heal other people
- know the consequences of all the things they have signed (The whole 'freeman on the land'-thing - in other words, to liberate themselves from the
shackles they have willingly imposed on themselves, or consented to)
- speak and write coherent english (the 'american typos' really drive me nuts sometimes)
- express their creative side in any way they feel inspiring
- or alternatively, express their analytical/mathematical/programming talents any way they see fit
- question the status quo, the ongoing dogma, the values and symbols imposed on us all, the 'clever' messages that turn out to be hostile to
humanity in a closer inspection, etc.. basically, question everything, until they can truly know - and then question even their true knowledge of it
all (in other words, endlessly questioning everything, when there's even the slightest doubt that they don't have full knowledge of something) -
especially to question 'authority' (it's not what most people think it is)

- to be free, and to feel free (this is what humans most fundamentally ARE - until they get indoctrinated and willingly give their rights away)

Well, this could go on, but I think this list is sufficient for now.. I think all people could learn at least most of these things pretty nicely. But
I definitely reject the madman's list, and would never learn ANY of those things, and think it's insane to try to impose such lunacy to everyone,
like a straight-jacket.. there's no FREEDOM in those words.

I hope there is freedom and maybe even some wisdom in my list. At least compared to his list (though of course, that's not saying much - any retarded
10-year old could compose a list that would have more wisdom than his list).

Its strange we watch TV we learn so many things and see so many things, But placed in a similar situation we woudlnt have a clue what to do.
watching tv is like a teacher sat in front of you telling you what is right, wrong, true, false and then shouting at you and telling you to be quiet.
You sit and soak it in,....

THe TV just keeps you occupied, doesnt really teach you much, It can inspire you to seek and learn.

As we embrace new technology we are losing "old" social skills from our original ancestors. I have read texting has overtaken talking. it is true,
its easier, theres less to worry about, easier to lie and deceive etc...

I am an eagle scout and as a teenager I spent my summers learning survival skills in the wilderness. I do not consider myself a prepper but do know
that I hold the skill necessary to support myself off the land and support others should the need arise.

When i see survival shows (the titles of which i won't name) I often find myself frustrated with the lack of practical survival knowledge that my
generation possesses. I can't blame my generation however as they've never had to fall back on this knowledge or be forced learn it from their
predecessors. I do however become worried at what would happen to the US when the lights turn off. I believe It would make 3rd world nations laugh at
our predicament. I hope however that I will be able to cope with the changing times and I hope others may do so as well.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.